Gulf Arab states on Tuesday urged Syria's government to immediately halt its "killing machine" as a first step towards implementing an Arab peace deal.

The Gulf Cooperation Council called on Syria to "immediately halt its killing machine, put an end to bloodshed, lift all signs of armed conflict and release prisoners, as a first step towards implementing the (Arab) protocol" that Damascus agreed to on Monday.

GCC states urged "the Syrian government to implement all points of the Arab initiative and the protocol on sending Arab League observers" to the restive country.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Maqdad signed the accord on Monday after weeks of prevarication in the hope that now the Arab League will lift sweeping sanctions imposed on the Damascus regime.

The plan, endorsed by Syria on November 2, also calls for a complete halt to the violence, releasing detainees and the complete withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said: "If there is goodwill when the protocol was signed then these steps must be immediately taken in order to implement the remaining steps of the protocol."

An advance team of Arab observers will head to Damascus on Thursday to set the ground for monitors overseeing a deal to end the months of bloodshed.

The German government meanwhile called on Syria to "immediately" act on its pledge to allow Arab observers to monitor a deal ending a deadly nine-month crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

"The federal government now expects from the Syrian government that... it act on its pledge to allow international observers into Syria, that it now immediately follow through on its commitments," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference.

He said Chancellor Angela Merkel was "deeply worried" about the violation of human rights and called on the Syrian government to stop violence against civilians as well as against army deserters.

Guido Westerwelle, the foreign minister, said Syria would be judged by actions rather than words, also urging Damascus to immediately implement the accord. But he noted that Syria had broken promises in the past.

"We will therefore judge the agreement of the Syrian leadership with the Arab League not by its words but only by actions, namely their immediate implementation," he said in a statement.

President Bashar al-Assad's embattled regime signed a deal Monday to accept observers to monitor an Arab League plan to end the bloodshed in which more than 5,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations.

"Violence must immediately end, the military withdraw, political prisoners be released and unhindered humanitarian access be granted. These are important conditions for a peaceful change in Syria," Westerwelle said.